The Missing Link December 3, 2008
Posted by PCastleberg in : Commentary , trackback
In quite possibly what was simultaneously one of Ted Thompson’s worst and most overlooked moves the releasing of Tracy White has really come back to bite this team. Tracy White was cut October 7th in favor of keeping Danny Lansanah.
Now I am far from saying that White would be a magical savior for the special teams considering all the other fluctuation from injuries that there has been but when you look at this move in hindsight and think about the fact that we basically cut our best special teams cover guy just to keep a practice sqaudder it hurt this team and it sent a very bad message.
I don’t have a problem with most of the moves made this year when you look at them:
- Corey Williams traded: people want to whine about this move but they forget that Williams would have been our highest paid DL and after he had to play full time last year he wasn’t nearly as effective. It would not have made sense for the Packers to keep him at the price tag he was going to command because the performance didn’t justify it. Ask yourself what kind of a difference he’s made in Cleveland this year. I think Thompson got as much as he could for him and that’s all I can ask.
- Brett Farve traded: Once again I have no problem with this move. People forget, Farve retired…not once but TWICE and didn’t decide to come back until after training camp had already started. At that point there was no going back for the Packers IMO. It was time to move on, the on again/off again act from Farve along with his open questioning of the multiple moves that created what he himself called “the most talented team I’ve ever been on” were tired and old. Rodgers has played very well, and while he has made some “rookie” mistakes he has shown that he has all the physical tools needed to lead this team for years to come. Once again I think Thompson got as much as he could for him and thats all I can ask.
- KGB gets cut: I have to admit I was VERY surprised by this move but in retrospect I wasn’t. While KGB is a fan favorite and a personal favorite the guy just didn’t have it any more. He couldn’t recover from the knee problems he was having and just couldn’t get it done any more. Classy guy that you hate to see go but I think it was the right move. Very similar feelings to seeing Henderson fade away.
- Tracy White gets cut: This is the one move I have a problem with. You have a guy who wasn’t that old (only in his 6th year), was VERY good at his job and was a veteran presence on a team severely lacking in veteran leadership. He was the leader of a very young unit. His play had not slipped, he was still getting the job done and getting it done well. Yet he was cut for a first year undrafted rookie who had showed some promise and we didn’t want to lose from the practice squad.
Now maybe I’ll be proven wrong, maybe Lansannah will prove to be the second coming of Ray Nitschke but I highly doubt it. Before this move was made our STs had only surrendered 1 kickoff/punt return of more than 30 yards. That came in White’s last game against Atlanta (54 yards). Since that time the Packers in 7 games have given up 6 kick off returns of 30+ yards. 3 of which went for over 50. Opponents average starting field position against the Packers is their 32 yard line and opponents have had 22 drives start in Packers territory.
Tracy White played in every game he was on the team this year. In his 7 games since being signed on October 7th Danny Lansannah has been a game day inactive in two of them. He has not been inactive since Nick Barnett went down with a season ending knee injury, which only leads on to believe that he has been on the field in the last 3 weeks while the Packers have surrendered kick off returns of 62 yards to the Saints and 40+ and 50+ to the Panthers in successive weeks.
In the grand scheme of things not many people will even mention Tracy White but in this case I would argue that he has been an invaluable missing link for our not so Special Teams.
Comments»
Good points Patrick. It sounds like your suggesting that the Special Teams issues are personnel in nature, not coaching.
The nature of most of the losses this year make this such an annoying issue. When losses are less than a touchdown, sometimes the smallest contribution is the difference. We need to clean up the field position problem promptly. It should be interesting to find out who is going to be punting on Sunday.
Hmm…Well I certainly think personnel is part of the issue. I also have serious questions about Mike Stock.
He hasn’t been helped by all the injuries which have created some flux in his units but in my opinion it is a failure in coaching to have the same errors week after week.
I guess to some extent its kind of a chicken/egg thing. Where does the real problem lie? I don’t have the answer.
Any opinions on the candidates that are in the tryouts today?
I meant for Punter.
I don’t know enough about any of them to have an opinion. I just hope we do a better job of getting one than last time.
I will say whoever the new guy is, he’s not going to have to do to much to be an improvement over Frost.
According to the Press-Gazette:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20081202/PKR01/81202171/1058&located=RSS
The two having a tryout today are: another Redskin castoff that hasn’t performed well, and a competent, but troubled Patriots release.
Other possibilities include Scott Player. He has experience and pro-bowl credentials, but is almost forty.
Great point. I had forgotten about the team cutting White. While he himself probably wouldn’t have made tackles on every long runback we have given up in the last few games, the leadership and skill he brought to the unit must be missed.
Another Thompson move that I can’t fault him for making was the decision to change punters. Ryan’s two problems were inconsistency, and inability to down kicks inside the ten. It seemed like time and time again last year he would kick from around midfield and boom it into the endzone. Great for his gross yardage average, terrible for the team. I think Thompson recognized this offense could move the ball and thought we would need shorter directional kicks from around midfield far more often than we would need booming kicks from deep in our territory. The Frost experiment has failed, miserably, but I’ll bet we can find someone at least as good as Ryan before next season.
Zack,
I agree that Ryan had consistency problems too BUT he also had a HUGE leg and had made progress from year to year. You also have to consider that he got killed in that windy chicago game last year and that didn’t help his stats any.
I seriously think downing it inside the 20/directional punting was being HIGHLY overrated by this staff.
Do I want a guy that can do that. Yes I do but its just gravy. That’s it. I mean we’re talking about a team having to go 80 yards to score instead of 90. However if the punter has a shitty leg I don’t care if he can directional punt because it doesn’t matter. If we are punting from our EZ I want the ball going across the 50 not getting caught at our 40.
You need a punter with a big leg to get you out of holes and help swing field position which takes pressure off your D. That is FAR more important that being able to kick the ball in the coffin corner IMO. I want both but I’ll take the guy with a bigger leg any day of the week and twice on Sunday’s.